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The Beekeepress Apprenticeship Program

For women of all ages

Open Now for 2022 Registration

Benzie County

Bee Mistress Sharon Jones
&
Bee Mistress Leslie “Luna” Powers

First Year Program Overview

This body of work is an in depth apprenticeship to Apis mellifera and an opportunity for deep self exploration through apprenticeship is a time honored tradition of transmitting knowledge and skills of a craft as the apprentice learns by participating in intricacies of the craft of the master practitioner.

Apprenticeship retains fresh information and ideas within a common body of knowledge.

Year I encompasses the world of the honeybee, from the herstory to science & biology of the bee, which brings us into deeper communion with this beautiful creature.

Students receive seven months of hands-on natural beekeeping techniques with contemporary adaptive methodology with bi-monthly live meetings, and monthly zoom meeting rooms. Excellent opportunity to gain skills through the progression of the seasons, including spring buildup, summer honey production, and fall harvesting and proper preparation for over-wintering.

Second Year Program Overview

The second year is one of continued studies,service and activism. You have the opportunity to become an intern to the Beekeepress Apprenticeship helping students and assisting with the Bee Yard studying advanced beekeeping.

Sharon Jones

Sharon Jones and her husband Kirk first began to keep bees in 1979 and are actively involved in many aspects of the beekeeping operation (Sleeping Bear Farms) that includes activities at the Michigan honey farm and the winter farm in the panhandle of Florida.

Sharon has owned and operated BeeDazzled “Gifts from the Hive” featuring handmade candles, soaps and natural skin care products for 30 years, with a devoted clientele. She travels to speaking engagements and has conducted workshops and apprenticeships in natural and feminine approaches to the art of beekeeping.

Trained in the tradition of a Melissae (an ordained Bee Priestess with arcane roots in ancient temple times), Sharon is a Bee Mistress with over 35 years of experience, loving and learning from the bees.

She has attended the Sacred Trust Institute in England to study the shamanic Melissae program and has continued shamanic studies under the direction of Kate Durda and Stephanie Tighe, aka the Spirit Weavers.

Sharon is a frame drummer artist and instructor and has studied with Layne Redmond, an accomplished teacher. She currently is a shamanic practitioner studying apitherapy.

In the summer you will find Sharon busy with:

She spends her winters in Florida on the family bee ranch with her horses, dog and cat, where she raises queen bees for their family beekeeping business.

Her gift is the feminine approach to the sacred art of beekeeping, as well as her ability to listen deeply to the Song of the Hive.

Leslie “Luna” Powers

As High Priestess of the Sacred Womb, my commitment is two fold. To heal relationships between the womb of the Sacred Hive (Honey Bees) ,while awakening us as holders of sacred devotion. To work in harmony with bees and humans. I have given my heart and soul to this work, and am so excited to share my experience with the Divine Feminine.

Awakening to my own unique beauty has changed the course of my life, and I offer insights and an exploration into yours.

I have also received initiation into both the Dianic and Melissae lineages, seeing plants, our own bodies, and honeybees as Divine examples. For the past few years I have been organizing the Red Tent and attending festivals and private retreats. Also, integrating Moon time mysteries, Sisterhood circle,plant shamanism and practices of the Melissae Lineage. I am fully equipped and committed to leading others in ritual and holding sacred space with the community. So many blessings.

Luna

Leslie Powers

FAQs

Q: Are there scholarships available for this program?

Partial scholarships are available for workshops but because the Beekeepress School has limited enrollment, they are not currently available. It is common for scholarship recipients not to attend all coursework along with paying students due to an imbalanced energy exchange/investment in themselves for the program. We’d like to avoid such a phenomenon in this limited-enrollment course. Our hope is that the investment will be completely worthwhile.

Q: I want to follow my dream of becoming a beekeeper. Will this help me do that?

Absolutely! This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of Natural beekeeping, utilizing some tools of shamanism with modern applications, as well as Melissae specific guidance for working with the bees, plants, and stones.

Q: Are there payment plans available?

There are! We now offer a three-payment installation plan. The course must be paid in full by July 15th, 2017.

Q: What if I have to miss one or more of the live lessons?

Due to the nature of a live class and the amount of material covered I am not able to recreate it. You would need to get with your classmates for notes and I will suggest reading material and give homework.

Q: Will there be breaks during the class days or will we go straight through?

There will be breaks in between the lessons on class day to eat, stretch, and ground.

Q: Can men attend this series?

This series is for women. Men, please check out our local bee guild at Grow Benzie

Q: I know nothing about beekeeping or Melissae whatsoever, will I be able to keep up?

A lack of knowledge about beekeeping or Melissae will not be a barrier to the benefits of this program.

Q: What experience do I need to fully participate in this certification program?

No formal experience is required, just an open heart. You will need a bee veil, and gloves which you will receive recommendations for upon enrollment

Q: Will there be interim work and lessons beyond the scheduled class times?

There will be interim work, which will need to be completed in a timely manner. Also Creative Apis Arts and opportunities to work on craft projects aimed at deepening your understanding

Q: Will I become a Shamanic Practitioner through this course?

The course will offer a framework of ancient shamanic techniques, spiritual practice and language for your work with the bees; becoming a shamanic practitioner is your choice.

Q: What will I be able to do with this certification?

This certification will help you strengthen your integrity and confidence as keeper of bees, and provide you with formal tools to further your growth in the way of the Melissae. Along with tools and practical instruction, the final module prepares the student for the ethical dilemmas ever-present in spiritual community. My goal is for you to feel strong in your ability to work with individuals and groups, while feeling supported in language and appropriate action when conflicts arise for you and them-and they will.

Ways to Apply Your Training:
Keeping a hive on your land and growing a bee garden
Workshops- with some experience under your belt you may want to promote a natural way of keeping bees
Native plant restoration is a way to become intimate with your local plant communities and their pollinators. Becoming active in restorative projects helps to integrate your energies with that of the land around you and familiarize yourself with what plant medicines exist in your backyard.
Coaching or mentoring is a way to cheerlead those in just beginning or considering making the change to bring bees into their lives. It is very easy to integrate your passions with the bee centered approach
Caretaker of bees for someone else- This can be a mutually beneficial arrangement between you and someone with land and financial means to purchase bees and equipment
Swarm retrieval or removal- Bees sometimes land in places that are not ideally located and need to be moved. The benefit is Free Bees!

First Year Program

Year I encompasses the world of the honeybee, from the herstory to science & biology of the bee, which brings us into deeper communion with this beautiful creature.

Students receive seven months of hands-on natural beekeeping techniques with contemporary adaptive methodology with bi-monthly live meetings, and monthly zoom meeting rooms. Excellent opportunity to gain skills through the progression of the seasons, including spring buildup, summer honey production, and fall harvesting and proper preparation for over-wintering.

• Study of honeybee anatomy and plant biology
• Monthly classwork and reading assignments
• Exploring different hive types including standard Langstroth, top bar hives, and the French Warre hive.
• Refining skills of observation and evaluation through the use of all our senses
• Opportunity to experience working with multiple hives.
• Deepening our understanding of plant/animal/spirit medicine and healing practices
• Introduction to Apitherapy, a complete study of all the gifts of the hive including honey, pollen, wax, propolis, royal jelly, and venom
• Exploring the mysteries human/bee relationship through ethnographic and (her)story connection of
Divine Feminine through the sisterhood of the hive through the ages
• Complete percussion study of the Tambourine, one of the tools of a priestess of the bees.
• Study of Native Pollinators
• Implications of invasive species on the Honey Bee
• Initiation as a Bee Priestess (optional)
• Medicine and Candle making workshop
• Sacred Mead making (optional)

2nd Year Program

The second year is one of continued studies,service and activism. You have the opportunity to become an intern to the Beekeepress Apprenticeship helping students and assisting with the Bee Yard studying advanced beekeeping.

• Disease and Immunity
• Queen Rearing opportunity in Florida in a family style ranch setting.
• Develop a capstone project
• Melissae Path offering
• Apis Arts project